IVAS 2022 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 IVAS 9 IVAS 2022 9 Sensory impact of sunburn in white wine and mitigation of climateinduced off-flavours by defoliation and application of reflecting particles on grapes

Sensory impact of sunburn in white wine and mitigation of climateinduced off-flavours by defoliation and application of reflecting particles on grapes

Abstract

Climate change is a great environmental challenge with large impact on the Wine and sprakling wine industry. Heat waves and dryness cause frequent sunburn damage in white grapes. This leads not only to severe yield loss but also to sensory changes of white wine leading to climate-induced off-flavours. This study aims to develop viticultural and oenological strategies to minimize the sunburn damage to identify the molecular substance, which triggers the Off-Flavours and to prevent them. In 2020 defoliation measures, the application of kaolin and calcium carbonate suspensions on the grapes and a combination of both measures were investigated in respect to mitigate sunburn damage in Riesling vineyards in Germany. Defoliation was done at the early flowering state and late véraison. Early defoliation leads to longer sun exposition of the grapes, triggering molecular protection mechanisms against sunburn. Application of reflecting particles shall protect the grapes from solar radiation during heat periods.
Seven treatments were replicated in three field trials. Grapes of each field trial were separately vinified using the same protocol. The resulting wines were analysed by descriptive analysis and temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) with a trained panel. Additionally, we analysed the aroma composition of the wines using an established SIDA HS-SPME-GC-MS method.
The early sun exposition treatment with partial defoliation of 75 % of the grape zone during flowering and second defoliation of 75 % at véraison creates wines with less fruity aroma, but with a smoky taint (4-vinylguajacol) and the atypical aging note (ATA), reminiscent of acacia blossom and fusel alcohols. Application of kaolin or calcium carbonate slightly mitigated these unpleasant effects and even increased fruity aroma (fruity esters) and a more sweet taste impression. The late defoliation treatment (100 % at véraison) reduced both the green notes of the control and the smoky and ATA nuances, occurring with an early partial defoliation. However, these wines exhibited slight petrol off-flavour, which was corrobated by increased levels of TDN (1,1,6-Trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene) and vitispirane. Vice versa, early defoliation enhanced formation of floral compounds such as linalool, 2-phenylethanol and ß-damascenon. Wines varied substantially in the sour taste, which was not linked to pH. The TDS results additionally revealed for early defoliated treatments and those receiving kaolin and calcium carbonate protection a stronger fruity and sweet dominance in the first 10 seconds, while late defoliated treatments resulted in a more dominating and lasting sourness.
In conclusion, early defoliation with protecting particles not only favours acclimatisation of grapes to sun exposure leading to less sunburn, but also produces more fruity and less smoky, petrol flavoured wines

DOI:

Publication date: June 23, 2022

Issue: IVAS 2022

Type: Article

Authors

Szmania Caterina¹, Waber Jonas¹and Fischer Ulrich¹

¹Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum (DLR) Rheinpfalz, Institute for Viticulture and Oenology

Contact the author

Keywords

climate change, sunburn damage, kaolin, off-flavour, descriptive analysis, grapes, wine

Tags

IVAS 2022 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

Projected changes in vine phenology of two varieties with different thermal requirements cultivated in La Mancha DO (Spain) under climate change scenarios

The aim of this work was to analyze the phenology variability of Tempranillo and Chardonnay cultivars, related to the climatic characteristics in La Mancha Designation of Origin, and their potential changes under climate change scenarios. Phenological dates referred to budbreak, flowering, veraison and harvest were analyzed for the period 2000-2019. The weather conditions at daily time scale, recorded during the same period, were also evaluated. The thermal requirements to reach each of these phenological stages were calculated and expressed as the GDD accumulated from DOY=60. Changes in phenology were projected by 2050 and 2070 taking into account those values and the projected temperatures and precipitation, simulated under two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios –RCP4.5 and RCP8.5– using an ensemble of models. The average phenological dates during the period under study were, April 16th ± 6.6 days and April 5th ± 6.0 days for budbreak, May 31st ± 6.0 days and May 27th ± 5.3 days for flowering, July 26th ± 5.6 days and July 25th ± 5.8 days for veraison, and Ago 23rd ± 10.8 days and Ago 17th ± 9.0 days for harvest, respectively, for Tempranillo and Chardonnay. The projected changes in temperature imply an average change in the maximum growing season (April-August) temperatures of 1.2 and 1.9°C by 2050, and 1.6 and 2.6°C by 2070, under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. A reduction in precipitation is predicted, which vary between 15% for 2050 under RCP4.5 scenario and up to 30% by 2070 under RCP8.5. The advance of the phenological dates for 2050, could be of 6, 7, 7, and 8 days for Tempranillo and 4, 6, 6 and 9 days for Chardonnay, respectively for budbreak, flowering, veraison and harvest under the RCP4.5 scenario. Under the RCP8.5 emission scenario, the advance could be up to 30% higher.

Grape must quality and mesoclimatic variability in Fruška Gora wine-growing region, Serbia

The Fruška Gora mountain is a traditional wine-growing region in Serbia situated in the Pannonian Basin. Due to such a position, the vicinity of the Danube River and the presence of concave configuration, it is suitable for grape production. This paper provides analyses of spatial variations in meteorological parameters and grape juice quality within Fruška Gora wine region over three consecutive vintages (2018-2020). The examined period can be defined as warm with cool nights during September (AVG 18,9°C; GDD 1918°C; CI 12°CF) and with the presence of mesoclimatic variability. The East part of the study area was somewhat drier and hotter compared to other parts of the region. The analyses of grape must samples (190 in total) of five cultivars (Cabernet-Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Grašac (Welschriesling)) commonly grown across the region (19 sites), were performed using Fourier Transform Infrared Technology (FTIR). Among all cultivars, Sauvignon blanc was harvested first in the East area (DOY=246±5, GDD at harvest=1552±74, 22.2±0.7 °Brix), while the latest harvest was recorded for Cabernet-Sauvignon in the West (DOY=283±5, GDD at harvest=1936±187, 23.4±1.0 °Brix ). Both the red and white cultivars had higher acidity and YAN in the grape must if the vines were grown in the North and East compared to South and West areas. According to PCA analysis, Grašac showed the lowest variation in grape must chemical composition. Thus, the results confirm that Grašac is the most stable cultivar in Fruška Gora. All monitored cultivars reached technological fruit ripeness by the end of the growing season. However, it was difficult to reach full ripeness of red cultivars, mostly beacuse of uncoupling of technolocical and phenolic ripeness. Thus, Cabernet-Sauvignon had higher variations in GDD sums at harvest compared to other cultivars, which probably increased variations in grape must quality.

Anthocyanin profile is differentially affected by high temperature, elevated CO2 and water deficit in Tempranillo (Vitis vinifera L.) clones

Anthocyanin potential of grape berries is an important quality factor in wine production. Anthocyanin concentration and profile differ among varieties but it also depends on the environmental conditions, which are expected to be greatly modified by climate change in the future. These modifications may significantly modify the biochemical composition of berries at harvest, and thus wine typicity. Among the diverse approaches proposed to reduce the potential negative effects that climate change may have on grape quality, genetic diversity among clones can represent a source of potential candidates to select better adapted plant material for future climatic conditions. The effects of individual and combined factors associated to climate change (increase of temperature, rise of air CO2 concentration and water deficit) on the anthocyanin profile of different clones of Tempranillo that differ in the length of their reproductive cycle were studied. The aim was to highlight those clones more adapted to maintain specific Tempranillo typicity in the future. Fruit-bearing cuttings were grown in controlled conditions under two temperatures (ambient temperature versus ambient temperature + 4ºC), two CO2 levels (400 ppm versus 700 ppm) and two water regimes (well-watered versus water deficit), both in combination or independently, in order to simulate future climate change scenarios. Elevated temperature increased anthocyanin acylation, whereas elevated CO2 and water deficit favoured the accumulation of malvidin derivatives, as well as the acylation and tri-hydroxylation level of anthocyanins. Although the changes in anthocyanin profile observed followed a common pattern among clones, such impact of environmental conditions was especially noticeable in one of the most widely distributed Tempranillo clones, the accession RJ43.

Climate, Viticulture, and Wine … my how things have changed!

The planet is warmer than at any time in our recorded past and increasing greenhouse emissions and persistence in the climate system means that continued warming is highly likely. Climate change has already altered the basic framework of growing grapes for wine production worldwide and will likely continue to do so for years to come. The wine sector can continue to play an important role in leading the agricultural sector in addressing climate change. From developing on…

An analytical framework to site-specifically study climate influence on grapevine involving the functional and Bayesian exploration of farm data time series synchronized using an eGDD thermal index

Climate influence on grapevine physiology is prevalent and this influence is only expected to increase with climate change. Although governed by a general determinism, climate influence on grapevine physiology may present variations according to the terroir. In addition, these site-specific differences are likely to be enhanced when climate influence is studied using farm data. Indeed, farm data integrate additional sources of variation such as a varying representativity of the conditions actually experienced in the field. Nevertheless, there is a real challenge in valuing farm data to enable grape growers to understand their own terroir and consequently adapt their practices to the local conditions. In such a context, this article proposes a framework to site-specifically study climate influence on grapevine physiology using farm data. It focuses on improving the analysis of time series of weather data. The analytical framework includes the synchronization of time series using site-specific thermal indices computed with an original method called Extended Growing Degree Days (eGDD). Synchronized time series are then analyzed using a Bayesian functional Linear regression with Sparse Steps functions (BLiSS) in order to detect site-specific periods of strong climate influence on yield development. The article focuses on temperature and rain influence on grape yield development as a case study. It uses data from three commercial vineyards respectively situated in the Bordeaux region (France), California (USA) and Israel. For all vineyards, common periods of climate influence on yield development were found. They corresponded to already known periods, for example around veraison of the year before harvest. However, the periods differed in their precise timing (e.g. before, around or after veraison), duration and correlation direction with yield. Other periods were found for only one or two vineyards and/or were not referred to in literature, for example during the winter before harvest.